Midland Election 2018 Candidate Q&A, Answers #5

The Question

What do you intend to add or enhance for activities for youth, particularly tweens and teens in Midland?

Carole McGinn (Nicols) – Wednesday, September 19th 2018

Maker Space is a new thing coming to Midland Public Library and I like Maker Kids space in Toronto. Tweens and Teens – issue is boredom, rebellion, peer pressure and lack of enriching and social interactions. This needs explaining.

There is nothing wrong with down time and time to relax and do nothing. Everybody needs that. When it becomes the norm all the time it is a problem. These brains are a. On different circadian cycles b. Hormonal c. Wanting to be given responsibilities (part of growing up) d. Finding out who they are in the world. Social Interactions. Online is not social. It lacks body language, intonations, cues, social appropriateness, responsibility to others and time awareness. Social Media is a tool and should be supplementary.

Sadly many teens and tweens don’t come home to a parent anymore. They don’t have part time after school jobs to instill time management and responsibility. (many parents hold those jobs) So how to help them through a tough age and stage with the above considerations in mind? It seems the library is on it but more can be done. The hero centre and the YMCA have great programs. I’d like to see a drop in centre with a social worker or the likes of that has pool tables and senior tutors ( for high school credit ) This format worked well in Halton. They had a place to go and if upset had someone trained to talk to. Have a one stop resource of “teens needing work” or “teens that tutor” or “teens in trades, technologies, health ect” Higher a teen if your an employer! Mentor a teen or put up a basketball net on your street and invite people to get active. Share your ideas. How do you keep your teens and tweens healthy, hopeful and engaged?

Jonathan Reid – Friday, September 21st 2018

I don’t know but I will ask and will hear what people are telling me and reach out to hear others suggestions, I will tell you that there are a lot of community resources available for most issues. it’s a matter of connecting the individuals with the services and a lot of time these individuals are not even aware there are services out there that all ready exist that can help them with their needs.

Bill Gordon – Saturday, September 22nd 2018

I will support the Midland Youth Committed and agencies like the Boys and Girls Club and YMCA and be both open and responsive to initiatives that are brought to council. Idle youth is not a Midland-specific problem nor is it something that can be fixed with bricks and mortar. There is a societal shift away from the traditional pass-times that older adults enjoyed as children and youth which makes it harder to simply follow what worked for our generation. I am putting this question back to the voters, looking for ideas. The best source of practical intelligence for this issue is to poll the demographic and look to neighbouring municipalities for inspiration.

Answered on [Bill Gordon’s Website: Q & A Time With Voters – Volume 2](https://billgordon.ca/q-a-time-with-voters-volume-2/). [Link dead 2021-12-06]

Cher Cunningham – Monday, September 24 2018

The town has little programming for parks & recreation and as our finances fall in line, there is an opportunity for review. My children go to day camp in Tiny Township. Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, Cadets run outside of the Parks & Recreation. Those organizations as well as activities of other groups could be supported by council such as clubs and events. It would be ideal to see a partnership with the schools that allowed a survey to be distributed to local youth to determine their actual interests and needs. This could then be followed by the formation of local partnerships to create valuable opportunities

Stewart Strathearn – Monday, September 24 2018

Requested that due to time constraints that I point to his website: [Elect Stewart Strathearn for Mayor](https://stewartstrathearn.ca/) — and noted that he asks constituents use a contact method listed on that site, or on the Town website, or otherwise public, to ask him the questions they have in person, if the website proves insufficient — after helping me with a council matter, and having a wide-ranging discussion.

Jonathan Main – Tuesday, September 25 2018

I’ve been involved with special events last term and we’ll continue to work collaboratively on this topic. As I have been advocating for low cost/high impact projects, we had the idea of getting a projector and screen to show movies, live sports, video games, music concerts in the downtown which has been very successful. To the question of tween programming, the library has taken the lead on that particular age group. For special events, it’s about hardware and software, the town has the hardware (facilities, streets, parks) and the community mostly provides the software (special events programming, open street events, fun runs, etc.). It’s more than just special events, building an age-friendly community means making our streets and parks open, accessible, safe and inclusive.

Elliot Sheaves – Tuesday, September 25 2018

Prefers to answer questions in person due to the ways in which written answers can be taken the wrong way. He met with me in person and we had a very long and informative discussion. He also said he welcomes one-on-one with any constituent who would like to know what he thinks on any issue. He has also launched [Vote Elliot Sheaves](http://www.votesheaves.ca).

Candidates who have not (yet) responded

• Jack Contin
• Bob Jeffery
• Mike Ross
• Ruth Hackney
• George J. MacDonald
• Larry J. Ferris
• Shannah Aubé
• Shawn Edward O’Hara
• Jim Downer
• Beth Prost
• Michael Ladouceur
• Will King
• Keith Day
• Glen Canning
• Eric (Howie) Major
• Cody Oschefski
• Roberta Clair Bald
• Ryan McLaughlan
• Todd Langevin
• Elizabeth (Lisa) McFayden

Notes on the Answers

Answers in ’normal text’ are the candidate’s written response and are taken verbatim. I use italics for my words such as summaries of verbal responses and/or pointing to websites at the request of the candidate.